Last Man Posting

[Bellhead]

This is a distinct possibility. It doesn't get a lot of radio play either, but it's still special.

[Technic[Bot]]

As long as it lives in your heart it will be special.

sorry could not resist, I will show myself out

[Bellhead]

Girl from another department asks for car help. Simple concerns, straightforward request. Slightly tedious, but trusts my judgement based on my reputation. Simple fixes, effective repair.

Coworker in my department asks for car help, specifically, "can I borrow some tools, and can you help me with this". Straightforward issue, easy to understand but hard to do. Refuses to listen to me when I tell him "if you do that again, you'll end up stranded here". How he's stranded, in the shop, with his girlfriend, with a broken control arm, and snapped subframe nut.

Welp. Not my fault, I told him not to, and he didn't listen. Time to crank some tunes on the way home.

Gods I hate stupid people...
I mean, if you acknowledge it and defer to more knowledgeable people on such matters, that's one thing. But this friggin' guy, I swear...

[Technic[Bot]]

There is a whole theory for that. It is called Dunning-Krueger effect. In a nutshell the skills level needed to be good at something is the same required to tell you are good at that. Meaning incompetent people are incapable to realize the extent of their own incompetence.

And high egos does not help :/

[Bellhead]

I must be somewhere off to the side of that. I know what I can and can't do, and I don't have to think about it. Yet I look around me, and I see (relatively) new people who think they know what they're doing yet possess a distinct lack common sense.

Maybe it's because I'm mechanically inclined, and have made most of the mistakes I try to steer others away from, but the concept of "this is moving but this is not so something is wrong here" is a physics problem that doesn't escape TODDLERS. And this 35+ year-old can't figure it out when told to his face.

I feel like my facepalm needed a facepalm.

[Technic[Bot]]

You are an expert hence you can tell what you know and what you don't for the same reason you can tell when people do not know as much as they think they do. The there is also people who clearly did not spent enough time playing with their cubes at preschool...

A curious side effect of the Dunning-Krueger effect is when you just start to master something is when you feel you are the worst at it ( Valley of despair )

[Bellhead]

Too lazy to find a link, but that is remarkably related to CarTalk, and the Cattle Trailer Principle. Since I doubt many of you know about it, I'll give you the gist of it:

Using as its basis the conversation between the two hosts and the caller, an owner of a cattle trailer with electric brakes, a listener was able to logically prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that two individuals who each know nothing about a given subject will, in fact, know less than one single individual who also knows nothing about the same given subject.

[Technic[Bot]]

As usual never heard of that before, funnily enough google seems also unaware of any Cattle Trailer Principle. That being said CarTalk seems like relative popular radio show, so maybe more people heard of this before? In any case the idea sounds about right. Two people knowing nothing about something will inevitable come up with the worse ideas than just a single person fumbling alone.

In personal experience I think knowing a bit about something is exponentially more dangerous than knowing nothing at all. For example I know nothing about heart surgery and cardiology so I accept my ignorance and would defer to a professional doctor. Yet I know a bit of plumbing, not enough to actually do anything. so I may try to fix small stuff instead of doing the sensible stuff and calling a professional plumber.

In any case the Dunning-Krueger effect is very interesting and explains a lot of our daily interactions with other people. But I think the important part is that it has led me to realize I may overestimate my knowledge and skill whenever I am not paying attention and I should look out for that

[Neutral Smith]

Did you know I found a little time to post here? Now you do.

[Kellard]

Inching ever closer to 1000

[Hayate]

Oh dear

[Bellhead]

"Oh dear" is right. My Jeep blew a clutch linkage yesterday, and I don't know if I have a spare anywhere.

[Technic[Bot]]

Considering our pace I think Mr bellheah will be able to forge a new linkage from iron ore before we get to 1000. :/

By the way once we get there what do we do? Of course if Ms hayate doesn't decided to lock the thread and start a new one for the lulz

[Bellhead]

To be fair, Piglet's clutch linkage is, no joke, a 10" piece of 1/4" stock, bent 90 degrees at each end with a hole for a cotter pin. Took me like 2 minutes to get the broken pieces out, laying on the ground with a pair of pliers.

So I probably could make my own..

Actually, that was one of the ideas my coworkers came up with: Take a long 1/4" drive extension and cut it to length. Hardened steel and all that.

Decisions, decisions...

[Technic[Bot]]

Piglet clutch?
Sorry for asking google was not helpful this time.

Solid 1/4 " steel rod? isn't that a bit of overkill for a linkage operated by a foot? In any case up until yesterday i thought all clutches were cable/wire operated. I am clearly not qualified to comment on their design or construction.

In any case If the linkage in question is not that complicated isn't it easier to make it than try to find a discontinued piece?